44) SALUD TEODORO VDA. DE PEREZ, petitioner, vs. HON. ZOTICO A.

TOLETE in his
capacity as Presiding Judge, Branch 18, RTC, Bulacan, respondent.
G.R. No. 76714 June 2, 1994
QUIASON, J.:
(Petrache)

DOCTRINE: With regard to notices, the will probated abroad should be treated as if it were an
“original will” or a will that is presented for probate for the first time and accordingly must comply
with Sections 3 and 4 of Rule 76, which require publication and notice to the known heirs,
legatees and devisees, and to the executor, if he is not the petitioner.

FACTS: Dr. Jose F. Cunanan and his wife, Dr. Evelyn Perez-Cunanan became American
citizens. They lived in the US with their children Jocelyn, Jacqueline and Josephine. Dr. Jose
Cunanan executed a last will and testament, bequeathing to his wife “all the remainder” of his
real and personal property at the time of his death “wheresoever situated.” In the event he
would survive his wife, he bequeathed all his property to his children and grandchildren with Dr.
Rafael G. Cunanan, Jr. as trustee. He appointed his wife as executrix of his last will and
testament and Dr. Rafael G. Cunanan, Jr. as substitute executor.

“If my wife, EVELYN PEREZ-CUNANAN, and I shall die under such

circumstances that there is not sufficient evidence to determine the order
of our deaths, then it shall be presumed that I predeceased her, and my
estate shall be administered and distributed, in all respects, in accordance
with such presumption” (Rollo, p. 41).

Four days later, Dr. Evelyn P. Cunanan executed her own last will and testament containing the
same provisions as that of the will of her husband. Dr. Cunanan and his entire family perished
when they were trapped by fire that gutted their home.

Thereafter, Dr. Rafael G. Cunanan, Jr. as trustee and substitute executor of the two wills, filed
separate proceedings for the probate thereof with the Surrogate Court of the County of
Onondaga, New York. These two wills were admitted to probate and letters testamentary were
issued in his favor.

Subsequently, Salud Teodroro Perez, the mother of Dr. Evelyn filed with the RTC a petition for
the reprobate of the two wills ancillary to the probate proceedings in New York. She also asked
that she be appointed the special administratrix of the estate of the deceased couple consisting
primarily of a farmland in San Miguel, Bulacan. Letters of administration were issued in her
favor.

Perez filed motions praying for certain life insurance companies (Philippine Life Insurance
Company and Philippine American Life Insurance Company) be directed to deliver the proceeds
of the life insurance policy taken by the deceased Cunanan spouses.
In another motion, Perez asked that Dr. Rafael Cunanan, Sr. be ordered to deliver to her a
Philippine Trust Company passbook savings deposit, and the Family Savings Bank time deposit
certificates

Atty. Federico Alday filed a notice of appearance as counsel for the heirs of Dr. Jose F.
Cunanan, namely, Dr. Rafael Cunanan, Sr., Priscilla Cunanan Bautista, Lydia Cunanan Ignacio,
Felipe F. Cunanan and Loreto Cunanan Concepcion (Cunanan heirs). He also manifested that
before receiving petitioner’s motion his clients were unaware of the filing of the testate estate
case and therefore, “in the interest of simple fair play,” they should be notified of the
proceedings.

Perez then filed a counter manifestation basically alleging that the Cunanan collaterals had not
legal or proprietary interests to protect and no right to intervene. Probate court granted Perez’s
motion.

Cunanan heirs filed a motion to nullify the proceedings and to set aside the appointment of, or to
disqualify, petitioner as special administratrix of the estates. They alleged that that being the
“brothers and sisters and the legal and surviving heirs” of Dr. Jose F. Cunanan, they had been
“deliberately excluded” in the petition for the probate of the separate wills of the Cunanan
spouses thereby misleading the Bulacan court to believe that petitioner was the sole heir of the
spouses; that such “misrepresentation” deprived them of their right to “due process in violation
of Section 4, Rule 76 of the Revised Rules of Court.

In her opposition, Perez asserted:

a. that she was the “sole and only heir” of her daughter, Dr. Evelyn Perez-Cunanan
to the exclusion of the “Cunanan collaterals;” hence they were complete
strangers to the proceedings and were not entitled to notice;
b. that she could not have “concealed” the name and address of Dr. Rafael G.
Cunanan, Jr. because his name was prominently mentioned not only in the two
wills but also in the decrees of the American surrogate court;
c. that the rule applicable to the case is Rule 77, not Rule 76, because it involved
the allowance of wills proved outside of the Philippines and that nowhere in
Section 2 of Rule 77 is there a mention of notice being given to the executor who,
by the same provision, should himself file the necessary ancillary proceedings in
this country;

In their reply, the Cunanan heirs stressed that petitioner and the Cunanan heirs had entered into
an agreement in the United States “to settle and divide equally the estates,” and that under
Section 2 of Rule 77 the “court shall fix a time and place for the hearing and cause notice
thereof to be given as in case of an original will presented for allowance”

d. They further asserted that by virtue of Section 2 of Rule 77 of the Rules of Court,
the provision of Sections 3, 4 and 5 of Rule 76 on the requirement of notice to all
heirs, executors, devisees and legatees must be complied with.
A lot of motions and exchanges happened between the parties and along the line the original
Perez petitioner was substituted by her daughter because she was ailing.

ISSUE: W/N the Cunanan heirs should have been notified.

RULING: YES.

RATIO:
Petitioner has always considered herself the sole heir of Dr. Evelyn Perez-Cunanan and
because she does not consider herself an heir of Dr. Jose F. Cunanan, she noticeably failed to
notify his heirs of the filing of the proceedings.

The rule that the court having jurisdiction over the reprobate of a will shall “cause notice thereof
to be given as in case of an original will presented for allowance” means that with regard to
notices, the will probated abroad should be treated as if it were an “original will” or a will that is
presented for probate for the first time.

Accordingly, compliance with Sections 3 and 4 of Rule 76, which require publication and notice
by mail or personally to the “known heirs, legatees, and devisees of the testator resident in the
Philippines” and to the executor, if he is not the petitioner, are required.

The brothers and sisters of Dr. Jose F. Cunanan, contrary to petitioner’s claim, are entitled to
notices of the time and place for proving the wills. Under Section 4 of Rule 76 of the Revised
Rules of Court, the “court shall also cause copies of the notice of the time and place fixed for
proving the will to be addressed to the designated or other known heirs, legatees, and devisees
of the testator.”